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Ranks and insignia of the Central Galactic Union
Ranks and insignia are used by the branches of the uniformed services of the Central Galactic Union to indicate position, responsibility, privilege, and status within the respective hierarchy. These ranks are connected to a Pay Grade, a scale of compensation commensurate to a holder's rank. These are divided into E''' '''ranks, designating Enlisted persons; W''' '''ranks, designating Warrant Officers and their equivalents; and O ranks, designating commissioned Officers and General Officers. The Armed Forces use ranks and insignia specific to their branches of service. Non-military government service pay grades all have the same rank insignia, including all branches of State Security. However, while non-State Security civil service and magisterial offices use a compensation system modelled after the military and State Security pay grade systems, they have very different levels of responsibility and relative power. Armed and Uniformed Services Each branch of uniformed service has its own structure of ranks and insignia, including corps colours, badges of rank, and symbols which are unique to each branch of service. The various services of the Central Galactic Government can be categorised into basic civil services, uniformed services, and armed and uniformed services. This third type comprises any and all branch of federal service which mandates the wearing of uniforms and insignia, and also is authorised for the use of force through armaments, typically firearms. The military is the most prominent grouping of these services, but many others exist. The Armed Forces of the Central Galactic Union comprise those uniformed services under the administration of the Ministry of War. The Ministry of State Security controls several armed and uniformed services, including the State Security Forces, the Security Service, the Central State Police, and the Interstellar Police. Other ministries command their own armed and uniformed branches, typically police agencies; all police forces use the same rank titles, regardless of ministerial administration. Armed Forces Army The Union Army has largely inherited its rank structure, compensation system, and insignia from the Terran Imperial Army. This includes the use of an eagle symbol as national emblem, the use of corps-specific coloured collars and jacket piping on dress uniforms, the use of twin-braid collar patches for enlisted and officers, and the use of oak-leaf collar emblems for general officers. The eagle symbol was changed from a double-headed purple eagle to a silver or gold single-headed one with outstretched wings, and was normally reserved for ceremonial uniforms. The symbolism of the national emblem represents the unity of mankind under the Republic. Air Force The Union Air Force is rooted in Terran air warfare traditions relating to the American, British, German, Russian, and Chinese air arms of antiquity. As such, they tend to have similarities with Army insignia and rank structures in their enlisted personnel. However, officers and generals have rank titles similar to that of naval forces. Its Terran roots connect the Union Air Forces to both ground- and sea-based aviation traditions, which had varying levels of presence in ancient Earth national militaries. The Air Force largely has its own insignia for officers and generals, while its enlisted insignia are virtually identical to those of the Army. The Air Forces use a modified national symbol, depicting a single-headed eagle with bevelled wings as if in flight. Marines The Central Galactic Marine Corps are structurally similar to the Army and its rank system bears many similarities. It is rooted in Terran traditions of American and British Marines, which operated as amphibious shock forces for Army units, and likewise are organised and administered as part of the Navy. The Terran Marines and current CGMC have a similar operational role, though they are divided into three components: Space Marines, Ground Marines, and Marine Aviation. The latter two operate from surface warfare installations, including land bases and sea ships. The former deploy from orbit, and receive special orbital warfare training. All subsets of the Marines, however, have the same rank and insignia. Its primary symbol is an eagle clutching a globe and anchor. Navy The Central Galactic Navy descends from ocean-going armed forces on Earth, primarily drawing from the traditions of the ancient American, British, and Japanese navies. Its insignia are of great antiquity, little changed from British and American symbols and rank gradation. The primary changes in the Imperial Terran era were the expansion of the admiralty to higher grades, to indicate the levels of planetary responsibility for the defence of a world's waterways. Naval ranks and insignia are used also for the Central Galactic Coast Guard and the Public Health Corps. Spacy The Central Galactic Space Forces are operationally separated from the Navy, but are administered under the Department of the Navy. Previously, the Imperial Space Navy, or Spacy, was a component of the Imperial Navy as a branch of service. This stemmed from ancient Terran tradition where the militarisation of space in the 22nd century was dominated by American, British, and Chinese oceanic navies, especially ballistic missile submarines, after a century and a half of Air Force space militarisation. As a result, the Earth unified space forces contained some traditions rooted in the Air arm, but primary operated on Naval rank systems and jargon. The CGSF retains this tradition. State Security State Security Forces The State Security Forces are a "second army" of "political soldiers" commanded by the Ministry of State Security's Department of Field Operations. The Security Forces operate several army groups of panzer troops and air assault infantry. It takes many of its traditions from the Army, but with ts own idiosyncrasies based largely in Earth's military antiquity, modelling many of its rank names and units after Roman or Greek words, such as Legion for its divisions or Comitatus for its tactical armies. Protection Service The Protection Service is a uniformed and armed service administered by the Personal Protection Department. It is a force responsible for the protection of high-ranking officials and magistrates of the CGU, as well as others persons deemed of national interest. It also deals with counter-terrorism, investigation of assassination plots, and domestic intelligence and counter-intelligence. Its units are organised similarly as the Security Forces, but are significantly smaller in number. It comprises many Enlisted agents, deployed as personal security detail. However, only commissioned officers are certified as Special Agents, with investigative and command power. Security Service The State Security Service is the chief directorate of the Republic Security Department, and includes the Secret Police, the Intelligence and Information Directorate, and other policing agencies with federal jurisdiction and special investigative power over political crimes and alien criminality. Unlike other State Security armed and uniformed services, it does not operate tactical or strategic units. Its agents operate largely on their own. Like the Public Health Corps, it is composed almost entirely of officers, though many were enlisted men in other services before being recruited into the Security Service. It uses the same rank titles and insignia as the Security Forces. Interstellar Police The Interstellar Police, also called the Space Police, is the primary investigative agency for major, non-political crimes that cross planetary jurisdictions, including organised crime, financial crimes, terrorism, piracy, and substance control. Like the Security Service, it is largely composed of commissioned and warrant officers, given its very high level of authority. Central State Police The Central State Police oversees all provincial and colonial police departments and directly polices federal territories. They include regular uniformed police, traffic and highway patrol, and investigative police. Other armed and uniformed services All ministries, departments, and agencies have a special office for internal criminal investigation. These agents are police investigators of officer rank, bearing insignia and titles corresponding to police grades. Ministry of the Interior The Ministry of the Interior contains several law enforcement agencies, some within the Parks and Wildlife Agency, and the Customs Enforcement and Immigration Administration. The PWA manages national parkland, wildlife, and natural habitats, and includes the National Park Service and the Fish and Game Service. The National Park Service has law enforcement jurisdiction over national parks, but also promote conservation and environmental stewardship, provide emergency services, conduct search and rescue operations in national parks, and act as guides, educators, and heritage interpreters. The Fish and Game Service also commissions game wardens and rangers to enforce laws on hunting, fishing, and animal control. PWA uniform design, insignia, and ranks correspond to Army models rather than those of State Security or ordinary police forces. The Customs Enforcement and Immigration Administration has jurisdiction over customs and excise, immigration control, and border patrol, with five separate offices for customs, surface border patrol, aviation patrol, maritime patrol, and orbital patrol. It operates in spaceports, border crossings, and weigh-stations to enforce customs and trade laws, patrol intra-planetary borders, and control immigration and emigration. Customs Police have the power to search, question, and inspect all traffic and to arrest and detain suspected smugglers. While the Interior Ministry includes a bureau for managing all federal lands, it has no organic law enforcement and security forces, instead operating a liaison with State Security for these purposes. Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice primarily administers the judicial system, and operates few enforcement agenices; most internal security and police duties are handled by State Security. The primary enforcement arm of the Justice Ministry is the Galactic Marshal Service, one of two armed and uniformed agencies enabled to deputize civilians to act as corsairs, privateers, and bounty agents through the issue of letters of marque and reprisal. The main duty of the Galactic Marshals is to pursue, capture, and remand fugitives. While holding police ranks and bearing arms, Galactic Marshals are not uniformed. Ministry of Human Services The Human Services Ministry includes the Public Health Service, the galaxy-wide universal healthcare system. The PHS contains the Public Health Corps, a uniformed service whose chief of staff, the Surgeon-General, acts ''ex officio ''as head of the Ministry of War's Department of Military Health and is the Deputy Secretary for Health. The PHC is composed solely of commissioned officers, and wear Navy uniforms and use Navy ranks and insignia. The PHC does not have law enforcement capabilities, and instead acts as a body of leaders, advisers, and managers in both military and civilian healthcare service. While not often assigned to combat posts, all officers of the Public Health Corps are authorised to act as an armed service. Ministry of Finance The Finance Ministry operates investigative and enforcement police for financial crimes, specifically tax fraud, securities fraud, and counterfeiting. It usually cooperates with the Republic Security Department, specifically the Interstellar Police, in investigating these crimes. These officers are usually plainclothes, but hold ranks and formal uniform insignia based on ordinary police grades. Ministry of Communications The Ministry of Communications contains several regulatory bodies, but mostly devolves its enforcement to the Interstellar Police and other State Security agencies. However, the Central Galactic Post Office operates an inspection and enforcement service, utilising State Security police ranks and insignia. Ministry of Transportation The main law enforcement agencies subordinate to the Ministry of Transportation are the Transit Police bodies subordinate to their respect departments: the Interstellar Transit Authority, the Public Railway Administration, and the Air Traffic Control Administration. These police agencies have special jurisdiction over their respective means of transport, with authority to destroy or disable aircraft, spacecraft, or rail vehicles suspected of endangering the public. These officers utilise ordinary police ranks and insignia. Rank tables The following tables display the rank names and insignia of the Army, Air Forces, Marines, Navy, Spacy, State Security, and Police services, with their corresponding pay grades. Enlisted ranks and insignia The following table is of the enlisted ranks. The pay grade E-10 is for a special rank position; each branch of service has no more than one person who holds the rank at any given time. Commissioned Officers ranks and insignia The following table is of the officer ranks. These are sometimes classed as "field officers" and "staff officers" in some branches, such as the Army and the Marines, but other branches do not retain this classification. These such officers are appointed to their rank by a military commission. Flag Officers ranks and insignia The following table include generals, admirals, and marshals, also referred to as "flag officers" due to their bearing of a specific flag of rank on their staff vehicles. These are upper-level leadership and management officers, as well as commanders of large operational and strategic units.